The Wrong Choice
by cheesebananas'n'twilight4Gail
Summary: In Eclipse, Bella chooses Jacob, but a year later, Jacob starts hurting her. She needs help, so she calls the one number she swore to herself that she would never call again. Edward. Will their renewed friendship blossom into something more?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, Gail here (obviously)! I know, I know, I was supposed to be writing a story from my poll (on Voodoo Doll and Blue Moon) but this just popped into my head, and I had to write it! DON'T HURT ME! Kidding! The poll is at the end of this chapter too, if you want to vote. Please do! To vote just leave a review or PM me with your preferred choice. Oh, and I'm Team Edward, so that's why Jacob is so horrible in this. I hate him!! Wow... Long author's note... Anyway... This chapter is set about a year after Eclipse, but Breaking Dawn never happened.**

Bella's POV

"Stay away," I gasped. Jacob was getting closer and closer. His expression was fierce from all the alcohol. He was just back from the bar. He went there a lot since we got together – was he upset? Angry? Every day I knew I'd made the wrong choice, but what could I do about it now?

He was almost up to me now, so close that I could taste the rancid beer smell on his breath. I was backed against the wall.

"Please," I choked out. "Please."

What had I done to deserve this? So I'd made some mistakes, so what? Doesn't everyone? Why me?

I made a break for it. I got as far as the door. That was an achievement, at least. But then Jacob did something that he hadn't done in a while. He _phased_. He'd quit his wolf some months prior - he didn't want any more age difference between us.

I yanked out my phone. I had approximately 10 seconds to find the number and call it. I scrolled quickly through my contacts, and found the one number I never thought I'd call again. I hit the button and listened to the dial tone. He picked up after one ring.  
"Bella," he said. His voice was surprised. He obviously hadn't expected me to call.

"You know where I live, don't you?" I asked urgently.

"Yes, of course." The velvet voice still sent flutters through my stomach.

"Can you come pick me up?"

"Of course. May I ask why?"

"Please come quickly. I'll explain when you get here."

"Okay. See you then."

"Bye," I said, and hung up. A howl echoed from behind me.

I ran, until a tree loomed up ahead of me. Without thinking, I climbed, knowing my life probably depended on it. I knew wolves couldn't climb, so I would be momentarily safe. I'd only been in the tree for about a minute and a half when a very familiar car crashed through the trees. Edward stepped out.

"Jump!" he commanded, holding out his arms.

And I jumped, putting all my trust in him for that one second.

He threw me into the car, and then got in himself.

We were silent for a few minutes, but it soon began to get awkward.

"Hello," he said in a musical voice.

"Hello," I replied. "I presume I don't need to tell you what happened?"

"No. I understand. But why was he trying to kill you?"

I shivered. Put that way, it really hit home.

"I – I'm not exactly sure. He just came home from the bar in an awful mood, and he took it out on me. He does it all the time, usually it blows over. But not tonight."

Edward reached out a hand, and fingered a purplish bruise on my arm. I nodded wordlessly.

"How could he _do _this to you?" he said, anger clouding his perfect face.

I took it as a rhetorical question, and he didn't press me.

"So, where am I dropping you?" he asked me.

Oh. I hadn't thought about that one. I couldn't go back to Charlie – he'd insist that I make up with Jacob. And I had nowhere else to go.

"I don't know," I whispered.

"How about my house?" he suggested helpfully.

"No... No, I couldn't."

"Of course you could, Bella. It's no trouble."

"No, really. It was bad enough of me to call you to get me. And I'm so sorry for doing that. Thank you so much for doing that."

"Bella, don't be sorry. As I said, it's no trouble. But maybe you would find it awkward to stay in my house. I could take you back to Charlie."

Maybe, if I explained the whole situation to Charlie, he wouldn't make me forgive Jacob. Just maybe. I took a deep breath.

"Thank you," I said.

"But please, promise me something."

"Anything," I promised.

"Don't go back to him."

"No way," I said.

"Bella, please. He hurt you."

"Yes, I mean 'No way' as in 'No way am I going back!'."

"Oh. Okay then," he replied, relief flooding through his face.

"And... Edward?"

"Yes?"

"Can we still be friends?"

"Of course," he said. "I'd love to." He seemed surprised.

Suddenly he reached across the car and hugged me tight. I hugged him back without hesitating. It felt so natural, so right. Like we were two pieces of a puzzle, finally put together.

"I'm sorry. That was uncalled for," he said when we pulled away. Of course he would have to apologize. I grinned.

"Never mind. Friends can hug, right?"

"Right," he grinned back.

We were nearly at Charlie's. I grimaced, preparing myself for some major explaining.

"Maybe I should leave you off here. It wouldn't go down too well if I dropped you at the door... You know what he would think," he sighed.

"Yes... I suppose – But wait, I have an idea."

"What?"

"We go outside his house, and you pretend to be Jacob."

"Right."

"I yell at you, and you drive off. He wouldn't know it was you."

"Sounds like a good plan."

"I don't know if I'll be very good at the yelling part, though..."

"Then close your eyes, and really try to pretend I'm Jacob." He grinned. "You should be able to yell then."

"Alright. I'll try," I said. "By the way – how did you pick me up, with the border line?"

He chuckled.

"Didn't Jacob tell you? When he picked out your house, he got one outside La Push, on this side of the line, to please you."

"No, he didn't tell me."

"Oh well. We're here now."

I looked at the house. I hadn't been here in a while. There were police cars all over the driveway – Charlie must have been having a party with some friends from work.

I looked closer. It was hard to see in the half-light, but I thought I saw... An _ambulance?_

"Bella," Edward said.

"Yes," I whispered in reply.

"Bella, Charlie's dead."

And he hugged me again while I sobbed continuously.

**Well, what did you think? Good? Bad? Don't care? Review!**

**Oh and the poll - this is on some other stories too, so please only vote once. I've already got a name for one of them.**

**Love. Kidnap. Lies.**

**Post BD. Bella gets kidnapped - and her kidnapper is imposing as her in her life. Who is the impostor? And will Edward figure out who is the real Bella? Will Renesmee?**

**Story 2:**

"**We were so out of touch with the world that World War III could have broken out and we wouldn't have known." What if WWIII had broken out while they were on Isle Esme? Will the Cullens be OK?**

**Story 3:**

**Leah thought that she would never imprint. But what if she did? And what if the imprintee was none other than Edward Cullen? Would they find love? Bella doesn't seem to think so...**

**And for story 3 I was thinking about "The imprinter and the imprintee" but if you have a better one please tell me .**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back! ~Strikes pose~ **

**Anyway... On with the STORY! And thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

Bella's POV

Eventually I wiped away my tears and said, "Come on. We should see what happened."

"Alright," Edward agreed.

When we stepped out of the car, an officer approached us.

"Are you Isabella Swan?" he asked in an official voice.

"Yes, sir," I replied.

"And are you Jacob Black?"

"No," intervened Edward. "I'm Edward Cullen, a friend of Bella's."

"Bella?" the officer asked, confused.

"That's me," I explained.

"Oh," the officer said. "I'm so sorry, but your father has passed away. A heart attack. He will be missed dearly, as you can imagine. He was a very good man."

I tried to look surprised.

"Passed away? When?" I asked.

"Just about an hour ago."

"An hour."

"I'm afraid I can't let you in right now – we're investigating the scene. Just a routine thing, you understand. As I said before, it was most likely a heart attack. But it has to be checked out."

I was at a loss for words. I couldn't go back to Jacob, and now I had nowhere else to go.

I found myself being taken towards the car. I was oblivious. I hadn't even heard the end of the conversation. How embarrassing. The officer had probably asked me countless questions, while I was dead to the world. I winced at the word 'dead'. I still couldn't wrap my head around it. Charlie was... _dead?_

The heart attack was especially hard to contemplate. Heart attacks were only supposed to happen to old people. Charlie wasn't _that _old.

"Bella, are you alright?" Edward asked. He sounded worried. He waved his hand back and forth in front of my face.

"I'm fine," I assured him. He sighed in relief.

"So, where are you taking me?" I asked nervously. He shot me a confused look.

"My house, of course," he replied.

"No! No, it's fine, I can stay in a hotel," I said.

He looked at me skeptically.

"How long do you plan to stay there?"

"I'm... not exactly sure. But I'll figure something out."

He groaned.

"Bella, come on... Don't be so stubborn."

I ignored him.

"Fine. But at least take this," he sighed, holding out a wad of money.

"No," I insisted.

"Yes."

"_No._"

"Fine." Odd . I hadn't expected him to give in so easily. "What hotel?"

"I have no idea - the nearest one, I suppose."

It turned out that the nearest hotel was very, very near – too near for my liking. I would never have admitted it, but I liked being in that car more than I should have.

As I was getting out, I felt a slight tug on my purse. Of course. Edward wasn't going to let me leave without taking the money. I glared at him.

"I felt that," I growled. I could see him suppressing laughter, but he sobered up quickly.

"Come on. For me?" he asked, giving the most dazzling crooked smile that made my heart skip a beat.

"Okay," I muttered in an undertone. I didn't want to let on how much I needed it.

"Thank you. By the way, how do you plan to get your truck back?"

"I don't know. I don't suppose..."

He smiled again. "I'll pick you up here at 11 tomorrow."  
"Thanks. Seriously. How many times do I owe you my life by now?"

"I've lost count." He didn't even try to keep the grin out of his voice.

"So have I. I was hoping you would know, but I guess I'll never find out now," I sighed in false disappointment.

"I'll try to remember. See you tomorrow," he chuckled.  
"Bye."

I stepped from the car onto the pavement and immediately shivered. I walked as quickly as I could without tripping to the hotel.

It was a shabby hotel with a small lobby. The lobby had a tarnished gold carpet and a few worn armchairs. On the far side of the room there was a small desk with a grubby glass screen in front of it. A small brass plaque next to it announced that it was the 'REC PTI N'. I presumed that it meant reception, and I walked over to it.

The hotel wasn't much warmer than the street – I hoped that the rooms were better heated.

"Can I help you?" asked a squat woman with wild, black curls and a North California accent – a rare thing in Forks.

"Yes, can I get a room please?"

"A single room?" she asked. She smirked as she spoke – it was pretty obvious, I admitted.

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"I'm not too sure. What's the nightly rate?"

"Twenty dollars."

I had no idea how much Edward had given me – but, knowing him, I was well covered. Plus, I had about twenty-five dollars lining the bottom of my pocket.

"Sounds okay," I told her.

"And you definitely don't know how long you'll be staying?"

"Actually, no."

"I get it," she said, holding out a brass key to me. "It's on the third floor, when you get out of the elevator take the first left, then another left and it's at the end of the corridor."

Darn. I hated elevators.

"What if I take the stairs?"

"Just take the elevator, hun," she said and walked into the small room behind the desk, muttering something like "I don't get paid enough for this."

Well, I wasn't going to take the dingy elevator – so I resigned myself to ascend the stairs, and look for the top of the elevator once I was on the third floor.

I searched around the lobby for the staircase, but I couldn't see one. I walked down a narrow corridor, but there was none there either. I gulped. I would have to take the elevator.

I had one final, futile look or stairs, and then proceeded to the elevator.

I got in, and pressed the button. The doors closed, and I tried o swallow my panic. But wasn't the third floor..._up? _I was definitely falling. And fast. At this rate, when I hit the floor, I would be slammed against the ceiling. And if it landed in a pit, I would be stuck for _days, _and people would never know.

I was still falling. How big was the basement of this building? I huddled into the corner, as if that would soften the blow. I braced myself.

And suddenly there was a thud on the ceiling.

_This is it,_ I thought. I would surely die here. Well, worst-case scenario, anyway. I concentrated on the thud. What could it have been?

As if in answer to my question, a trapdoor scraped open above me. Oh yeah. I'd forgotten about the trapdoor.

The floor was approaching. I knew it. I reached up and put my hands on the edges of the gap, but I couldn't pull myself up. I began to panic again, when cold hands grabbed my wrists and pulled me up, and liquid topaz eyes stared into mine with worry.

"Are you alright?" a velvet voice asked.

"Yes. At least, I think so," I replied.

"What hurts?" Edward pressed, the worry in his eyes clouding his tone.

"Nothing. I guess I'm just shocked. By the way, did you remember? You'll have to add this one to your total."

He grinned.

"You didn't give me much time to remember, did you? I thought you didn't like elevators? Let me guess, you tried to face your fear. Could you have picked a more dingy, faulty and generally unstable elevator perhaps?"

"I couldn't find the stairs."

Without warning, he began laughing so hard that I couldn't help but join in.

"What's so funny?" I asked when he had completely finished.

"You. You couldn't find the stairs?"

"No. Why, were there any?"

"Yes, there were! The huge staircase in the middle of the lobby?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about those."

He began laughing again, but I refrained, and tried – and failed – to look angry.

"Your luck is worse than I thought," he managed to choke out.

"Well, I don't know if you planned to live your life in a dilapidated elevator shaft, but I'm going to my room now."

"Sorry," he apologized. I tried to scale the wall, and Edward stifled a laugh at my attempts. "Here, grab on," he said, crouching down. I climbed onto his back, and he jumped up the walls agilely. He pulled the doors apart and clambered through. The receptionist was standing, aghast, outside the doors.

"What the _hell _just happened?" she demanded.

"The elevator got stuck and my friend called me, so I came and got her out," Edward lied.

"How the - why didn't she take the stairs?" she asked, but then she recognized me. Edward stiffened beside me – probably in reaction to a stray thought of hers. "Oh... right. Well, I'd best be getting back to work..."

She trailed off, obviously uncomfortable with where the conversation was going. She almost ran back to her desk.

"I'd better take you to your room in case you can't find the door and abseil down the side of the building to find a window," he grinned. I tried not to smile in reply, but that was a battle that was lost before it started.

"What was that secretary thinking back there?" I asked when we arrived at my floor.

"Something about losing her job... Do you have any idea what that was about?" he asked. I bit my lip.

"I might," I replied sheepishly. "She was the one who told me to take the elevator in the first place."

"Ah. That might explain why she was also hoping that you wouldn't sue." He looked at me (and my heart stopped beating.). "_Will _you sue?"

"No. I'd probably trip over in the courthouse in front of the judge," I smiled wryly. We were at my room by then. I dug out the brass key – it seemed like a lifetime ago that I'd been given it – from my pocket and opened the door to the dingy room.

The color scheme was beige, brown and sludge green. There was a skinny bed shoved up against a brown wall. Seriously, who paints a wall brown? There was a tiny bedside locker next to it with an off-gold lamp set upon it. The window was very high up, but very big, and gave a prison cell type feel to the room. A small door on the East wall suggested that there was an ensuite bathroom and there was a pale wooden closet at the end of the bed, made of a completely different colored wood to the bedframe. There were a chair and a table by the closet. The chair had mustard-yellow cushions.

I sat down on it.

"This is... nice," I said optimistically.

"Mm... Well, I'd better be off. Are you sure you can stay out of trouble until tomorrow morning?" he grinned.

I rolled my eyes. "I'll try my best."

"Well then I'll see you there." With that, he climbed the wall and slunk out of the window. I ran to the window.

"Are you sure you want to abseil down the side of the building?" I called, leaning outside.

"I think I'll manage," he called back, and then he disappeared from sight.

I sighed. I had no clothes but the ones I was wearing – and a toothbrush would have been nice, too. But I would have to make do with what I had. I took off my shoes and climbed into the bed, fully-clothed.

Sleep took it's own sweet time to come, but when it did it was deep – I probably didn't even talk.

And that's weird for me.


	3. Chapter 3! Finally! :

**Are you going to kill me? I know, I know. I deserve it. Well, not really. I'm too young to die. Anyways, I'm not going to try to make excuses for the extreme delay... Well, maybe one. You see, my dad accidentally deleted this chapter when it was almost done, and I had to type it out all over again ;_;!! So yeah... The long-awaited third chapter!!! PS. TWO REVIEWS for the last chapter!?! Meanies!! Apart from krazikeo, WENDYCLARE and rosiiebuck123. You guys are awesome. xD**

Edward's POV

I drove home in a daze. Today had been... Well, incredible, to say the least. I had gone a year thinking I would never see Bella again, and now we had a date for tomorrow. _Not a date, _I chastised myself. We were just friends now. Of course, that was fine by me. Just seeing a glimpse of her in a crowd would be enough to satisfy the gnawing pain that ached at my still heart.

But even that pain was nothing compared to the anger I felt towards Jacob Black. It was bad enough that he'd taken Bella from me – that anger was almost nothing because I knew I couldn't act on it without hurting Bella. The anger of him hurting her, however, was unbearable. How _dare _he take for granted the fact that he could lay a hand on her?

I knew she would forgive him – she never held a grudge – so I couldn't kill him for that either. But I would love to rub in his face the reason I wasn't ripping his head from his shoulders – _See, _I'd say, _much as I'd love to cheerfully murder you, _I_ would never do anything to hurt her. _Not that I'd ever see him...

Bella's POV (next morning)

I awoke slowly, blinking, waiting for the unfamiliar scene before me to shift back into my room. When it didn't, I almost panicked.

_Where am I? _I thought, groggily raising myself to lean on my elbow. It took me a few moments to recall the previous day, and the shock made me drop back onto the pillow. I couldn't believe I had called _Edward Cullen, _of all people. He must surely hate me.

Although... He hadn't behaved in any way as if he hated me. More as if he had discovered something wonderful, but didn't want to become too attached because he wasn't prepared for the fall that would unquestionably come with it's departure.

The final thing I remembered was that, at eleven a.m. today, he was going to drive me home to retrieve my truck.

"Crap," I muttered as I glanced at my watch. It was 10 o' clock – I'd forgotten to set my alarm. I leapt from the bed, meaning to get ready, but then remembered that I had nothing to get ready with. I would never take a toothbrush for granted again.

Splashing some cold water on my face, I resolved to buy one on my way... Well, not _home _, because I could never consider this hotel to be my home, but my old house certainly wasn't home either. The concept of 'home' implied a sense of sanctuary.

After doing the best I could to erase the shadows under my eyes, I had nothing better to do than to sit on the bed and wait.

The time ticked by slowly, each second dragging painfully, so that when it was time, I felt like I had gone mad. I probably had, to be honest. The very fact that I was following through on my plans was solid evidence to support that.

But, mad or not, my heart still leapt when Edward gracefully slid from his car and opened the door for me. I got in silently, not knowing what to say.

"Thank you," I managed, "For coming."

He looked at me quizzically. "I told you I would, didn't I?"

"I suppose you did."

I wasn't surprised that he didn't reply – there's not much you can say to that without a not-so-subtle subject change. It was regrettable that the rest of the journey passed silently, but I had used up my limited quota of conversation topics. I was almost glad when the time came to say goodbye – the silence was deafening.

"I'll... see you," I told him, hoping fervently that I would.

"Yes," he replied absently. If this was the only goodbye I was getting, I would be severely disappointed. And it bugged me that I didn't know why.

"Bye," I muttered sourly, more angry at myself than at Edward, who had done nothing wrong.

"Bye."

I looked towards the gap in the trees where my former home had been. Former, because I had no intention of returning – permanently – in the foreseeable future.

Peering from the trees, I surveyed the scene. The house _looked _empty, but Jacob could have been in any of the back rooms. I was willing to take the risk, though – having a vehicle equaled freedom to go where I wanted, and freedom sounded great right then.

I ran in a low crouch, crossing my fingers behind my back in the hope that I wouldn't trip. I made it to the truck without seeing any people. That was good – I didn't want to explain myself to anyone. I slid into the cabin and was driving off, wincing at the roar of the engine, when a familiar voice called my name from somewhere behind me. I stamped on the accelerator, knowing it wouldn't be fast enough. What I didn't expect was a sharp thud reverberating through it.

I realize now that I wasn't angry before. No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't bring myself to be mad at Jacob. Up until now, that is. Now, when he would not let me drive away, somehow I felt a sudden, unexplainable surge of fury. How dare he treat me as if I were the one who had done wrong?

"Bells, wait up!" he yelled again. I stormed out onto the damp grass.

"What?" I demanded. He looked dumbfounded for a second, and then spoke.

"I'm sorry. Stay. Please."

"You just don't get it, do you?" I whispered, slipping back inside the truck. He didn't reply, confirming what I said. He _didn't _get it, and he never would.

Jacob stared after me as I drove away. His expression was so mournful that it made me want to drive back and console him, but I resisted.

My hotel room hadn't improved in the sunlight as I had hoped. It was still dingy – in fact, the peeling wallpaper was even more depressing in daylight.

I was getting hungry – I hadn't eaten since the previous day – so I headed to the store to pick up food. I went through the motions of my day methodically so I wouldn't have to think. I was on the edge of a serious migraine, an I didn't wish to go any deeper. The problem was, there wasn't much escape from thinking when I had nothing remotely interesting to do.

I was walking through the parking lot when I heard a high voice behind me.

"Bella!" squealed Alice. I whirled around.

"Hey, Alice –" I began, but was cut off by a tight hug. I embraced her back awkwardly.

"I just _knew _I'd see you here!"

"I wonder how you knew that?" I asked sarcastically. Light humour was exactly what I needed. Scratch that, _Alice _was exactly who I needed.

**Bit of a short chapter, really. Don't worry, I won't take as long to update next time. I'm looking forward immensely to the next chapter. And the thing with Alice, well, I actually didn't plan that. My thoughts ran away with me, but I think it's a pretty good ending to this chapter. Please, please, PLEASE review!!! :)**


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